Half Hearted Hero, “Running Water” EP

cover-half-hearted-heroHalf Hearted Hero
Running Water
(Animal Style Records)

Animal Style has been putting out some solid pop-punk as of late. Their emphasis is on the pop edge of things, as evidenced by recent releases from Mixtapes and Born Without Bones, and the Running Water EP from the Massachusetts quintet, Half Hearted Hero, is no different.

Well, that might not be so accurate. While Half Hearted Hero is certainly tuneful and catchy, and will really appeal to fans who miss the glory days of Drive Thru Records, there’s a little more going on. The guitars have a certain throatiness to them. Things drop down into lower tunings here and there (especially on the album opener, “Five Points” and the second side track, “Mirrors”), helping to take the gloss off the whole affair.

Unsurprisingly, the whole album gallops along with a propulsive drumbeat, which – in addition to being unsurprising – is unfortunate, and undoes a lot of the forward-thinking approach of the guitars. It’s energetic, but it’d be nice to hear one band from the East Coast – and especially Massachusetts – that didn’t use the hardcore drum sound. Slow it down, match it to the song. It’s okay if you don’t go at 75 miles an hour the whole time.

“Mirrors” had the potential to merge pop-punk with ’80s metal in a really fun, intriguing manner, but that drum beat just took the whole number right back to the usual. Hopefully, Half Hearted Hero will continue on, and bring a second release that takes the promise of Running Water and moves beyond the expected “hardcore-influenced East Coast pop-punk” into something that hasn’t been done 1000 times before.

You can pick up the album from Animal Style directly. It comes in a pressing of 500, with 100 on orange/red marble, 200 on opaque olive, and 200 on brown. What’s funny is that, despite the ragging I gave them for being a little too much part of the herd with their music, Half Hearted Hero really goes all-out with the packaging. The 12-inch comes packaged in a sleeve that’s banded, much like a cigar, complete with monogram and the album title, and the liner notes look like a screen print. The art is stellar, as well. It’s a fantastic package.